On December 28th, Lynn and I flew to Walla Walla and returned on January 6th. Much of our time was taken house hunting which culminated in our making an offer on a nice home south of town with a pond and a sweeping view of the Blue Mountains. We will be living there full time begining in late February. We did, however, find time to do some tasting at a few wineries.

Revelry Vintners - This Airport winery has some outstanding new Limited Edition wines, a 2010 Bordeaux-style Reveler Red and a 2010 Syrah from the Weinbau vineyard. Both and others will be reviewed in the February issue.

Three Rivers Winery - We met with winemaker Holly Turner and tasted some head-turning wines which will be reviewed in a Focus article in February.

Glencorrie - Here, we tasted some newly released 2009's which will be reviewed in February. Also tasted were two Club wines which are impressive enough to warrant joining. Check the website: glencorrie.com.

2009 Glencorrie Malbec, Columbia Valley ($32 - wine club only)

This wine exhibits a deep purplish color and a nose redolent of blackberries, blueberries, black plums, violets and spiced incense. The medium-full bodied flavors are deep and penetrating, with loads of dark fruits that are intermixed with notes of licorice, coffee and earth minerals, and then march on itno a richly fruited back and finish. Delicious! 19/20 points.

Deep ruby colored, this wine offers an enticing nose of raspberry, cherry, plum, sandalwood, dried roses, orange peel and a hint of mint. The dark fruit flavors are thick and chewy, underlain with black licorice, bittersweet chocolate, roasted coffee beans and alluvial minerals. The saturation continues on the back with macerated fruits, kirsch liqueur and toast, followed by a dusting of spice and pepper on the finish. 19/20 points.

Tero Estates - Doug and Jan Roskelley previewed three 2010's and one 2009 that were about to be bottled. They are exciting wines to look forward to: a 2010 "RBB (Right Bank Blend)," a combination of 2/3 Merlot and 1/3 Cabernet Franc, a chewy, well saturated wine from beginning to end; the 2010 Windrow Vineyard Cabernet Franc, a sultry deep, thick, chewy wine that continues Tero's string of successes with this variety; the 2010 Windrow Field Blend, a thick, full bore wine redolent of oriental perfumes and dark fruits; and the 2009 Windrow Plateau Block Cabernet Sauvignon, a dark purplish wines with seductive perfumes and thick, multilayered flavors. I expect all to score 19 points or more upon release later this year.